Why You Should Watch Out for Deer, Raccoons, Dogs, Turkeys & Coyotes on the Road

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released a study on the number of animal-related insurance losses for the years 2014-2017. The data is gleaned from insurance claims for losses that occurred in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. A total of 1,740,425 animal-related insurance claims were processed with 1,739,687 of them—99.9 percent—involving vehicles. The actual number of incidents is likely much higher since many drivers do not choose to carry coverage for that type of event.

Animal Claims 2014 – 2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

Total

415,917

434,820

446,981

442,707

1,740,425

About 640,000 of those claims specified one of the top five animals involved and over the four-year period, 91 percent of those claims involved deer.

While all animal-related claims went up six percent over the four-year period, those that specified a deer was involved actually declined by 30 percent.

The top five animals involved in vehicle collisions were deer (584,165), raccoons (22,644), dogs (20,610), turkeys (7,289) and coyotes (6,023).

Animal Claims 2014 – 2017, Specifying Animal Type

Animal

2014

2015

2016

2017

Total

Deer

174,278

150,589

136,648

122,650

584,165

Raccoon

6,414

5,866

5,719

4,645

22,644

Dog

7,275

5,527

4,182

3,626

20,610

Turkey

1,920

1,867

1,800

1,702

7,289

Coyote

1,667

1,547

1,494

1,315

6,023

The top five states where these incidents occurred were: Pennsylvania (145,728), New York (115,670), Texas (105,036), Wisconsin (81,282) and North Carolina (79,252).

The top five cities where for these encounters were: San Antonio (3,945), Austin, Tex. (2,452), New York (2,442), Pittsburgh (2,115) and Rochester, NY (1,929).

Animal-related losses are good reason to make sure that you have adequate insurance and understand your coverage to protect against losses from these and other kinds of damage-causing incidents. The average animal crash claim amounted to about $4,000 in 2016 according to one major insurer. That would have amounted to nearly $1.8 billion in claims in 2016.